Protohawk Machine

Rick Finsta said:

You'll have to forgive me; I don't get the reference and Google was no help!

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Rick Finsta said:

Ahhh, gotcha! That's just an ISOgrid with no function just because I think they look cool!

Click to expand...

Yeah, well I guess that goes both ways, as I don't understand what an "ISO grid" is, nor what fer function one would have?


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

It's used to stiffen load bearing members while saving weight - used a lot in aero stuff is my understanding.

Gee, in the 70's we called those "honeycomb" wheels.
But that was the days before any of us heard of ISO, so ....

Simpler days ......


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Simpler Days
Ox

Well I've been wide open throttle here for a few months but feel like I'm spinning my wheels. I had to do another equity infusion (read: I had to stick more personal money into the business) to get things back on track with monthly payments and such. It took a bit more money and effort that I thought it would to get the new-to-me turning center up and running. It always does! I'll try to remember to link that thread here for posterity.





Made my first several batches of my hardened steel t-washers so technically the thing has already paid for itself. Waiting on honing of some collets so I can start doing my DOM tubing cutoff. That is gonna be a huge time saver!



The CCA Racing Products torque plate and other fixture sales have been picking up - lots of word-of-mouth referrals. I've been trying to streamline the ordering and payment/shipping process to minimize the amount of time I'm not making product. It has been very hard to keep up on production of the other stuff - hand tools and white label products - and I've been trying to get my production fixtures built for the hand tools.

Trying to get photos taken for the new website, but I'm gonna need a bigger photo booth! I have a local customer that has offered up theirs, but usually I have to ship these things the same day I make them so not a lot of time to run across town for a few pictures.



I'm also partnering with a US company to start supplying custom-labeled, US-made dial indicators with my hand tools. This is a big step up but I can still beat the crap out of most industry pricing, and I'll be the only one selling a 100% made-in-USA product. The engine building and race car world still cares about that sort of thing. Big thanks to Frank Mari for giving me a pointer to that company while he was on vacation.

These have to be the easiest-to-read dials I've ever seen.



Starting on the production fixturing for that tool:



I'm building it so that I will just pull the vise jaws off my 20" Orange vise bodies and throw the pallet and "faux 4th" setup on there. I am building a -90/0/90 indexing system so I can do three operations on eight parts at once without moving anything fixture to fixture or vise to vise.



Speaking of Maritool... their new coolant skimmer is awesome. Less than $500 and so far the best one I've tried. That is about the same price as the Abanaki / Next Gen separatory tank type and the adjustability on this one is much easier than setting a float level! Plus it has a time delay setting so I can hit the button when I turn off the machine and it will wait six hours for the coolant to settle, then run for an hour.



Yeah, yeah. I guy who spent as much time as I have working with spent metalworking fluids should have gotten squared away with tramp oil removal a long time ago. Just goes to show how awesome modern quality coolants are.

As of this week I think I've had the Okuma on the floor for a year. Hard to believe, time really does start moving faster as you age.

Alright, I actually have a part that runs about 45 minute cycle time for OP1/OP2 combined so I was able to type this up and now I'd better get back to some shop maintenance stuff and building projects, and I also need to continue programming a few things. It never ends!

ETA: I meant to say that I did try those floating oil absorbing pillows from McMaster just to try a cheap stop-gap while I'm trying to not hemorrhage money, and it did not work AT ALL.

The faux 4th fixture is slick!

So do you have to carefully set the intake on that thing just below the surface, or is any depth OK so long as the base of the belt is in the coolant below the tramp oil?

bryan_machine said:

So do you have to carefully set the intake on that thing just below the surface, or is any depth OK so long as the base of the belt is in the coolant below the tramp oil?

Click to expand...

You don't have to set it very specifically because it has an impeller that vortexes the coolant towards the belt. To adjust it is REALLY slick, though. It has a spring loaded arm with a ball detent at the end that fits into a rack on the base. So you squeeze it above the liquid level and lower/raise it and let go, then tug until it clicks in place.

It also has four speeds for the impeller and belt.

Garwood said:

The faux 4th fixture is slick!

Click to expand...

Thanks! I should have made it taller so I could make the little replaceable center sections for different parts, though. I may end up making another one. It's around $1.2k in parts for both the pallet and the 4th setup when you get into all the clamps and everything.

Been too long between updates but I've been busy. The Takahashi will cut within 0.001" for a few bars, then move 0.003" in X, then move back a bar or two later. So rather than stick more money into it, I have made is a single-use machine for making my DOM tubing spacers. I've got macro programs set up so I take the job paperwork over, punch in the length and number, load the bar up, and hit go. It is really slick. I'm using my manual lath to remove the ID burr from cutoff and put a 45deg chamfer which takes seconds. I made little bushings to set the Z on my bar pullers (I have to swap them for tubing size) and I have the X offsets on a cheat sheet with all the macro variable meanings on the front of the machine. It takes maybe 2-3 minutes to switch between 3/4", 7/8", and 1" OD tubing which covers all my applications.





For my press-fit T Washers I found a late 90s Hardinge GT-27 Super Precision that I picked up for $5k. I am headed down with the riggers later this month to pick it up.



I also finally finished up the epoxy flooring on the tall side of the shop and got a ton of stuff organized. Worflow is getting more streamlined and I'm doing more in less time every day.

I also took on a large amount of subcontract work from a local shop that is having some growing pains. I had stopped doing any job shop stuff because it was holding me on on production, but this amount of work justifies a dedicated machine so I can be running my stuff and job shop at the same time. I'll be able to add 20-30 hours of production a week.

I've been fucking about for weeks trying to get a used machine (thanks to a few forum members - they know who they are) and they keep either falling through or there are red flags. So I'm buying new, because I need something here making chips. Re-joining the #speediomafia. Should be a few new machine day posts in the next few weeks!

The industry trade show (Performance Racing Industry, or PRI) is coming up fast and I need to get my display stand set up for that as well. I've got product to display but no idea how I'll display it. I will need some lighting and signage I'm sure. And stacks and stacks of business cards. Was also thinking of tiny little torque plate shaped keychains to hand out.

Well that should keep you busy for an hour or two, what else are you going to do with all your extra time in the day. Thanks for sharing and look forward to seeing how things are doing in the future.

Charles

Oh man, more Speedio's showing up on PM. Brace yourself for the hate... Congrats on the growth.

Nah I bought and ran a bunch at the last shop I ran so I should be fine. All the haters can just point out that I had a 30hp 44x22 CAT40 bridge mill first so clearly I could afford a flimsy machine that won't make money like a Speedio...